grub broken since last system update

orie · 2007-12-15 13:10:36

hi.

yesterday i did a full system update like every few days. but while trying to boot the system this morning, grub hangs with only "GRUB " printed.
booting the system with the arch installation cd works fine but now i'm not quite sure how to proceed without braking the whole installation.
trying to reinstall grub results in:

grub> setup (hd0,2)

Error 12: Invalid device requested

[root@ganymed flen]# grub-install /dev/sda3
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
The file /boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly.

i'm running arch on a macbook parallel to macos.

/dev/sda1 fat32
/dev/sda2 hfs+
/dev/sda3 ext3
/dev/sda4 swap

what else could i try before setting up a new system?

thx orie

floke · 2007-12-15 14:37:58

Try this...

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Reinstalling_GRUB

orie · 2007-12-15 15:11:59

i just did, but it didn't help.

again i get:

# grub-install /dev/sda3
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
/sbin/grub-install: line 435: cmp: command not found
The file /boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly.

(i need to have grub on my root partition instead of the mbr. otherwise i couldn't boot macos anymore)

like the wiki said, i checked /etc/fstab, but there seems to be nothing wrong:

# <file system>        <dir>         <type>    <options>          <dump> <pass>
none                   /dev/pts      devpts    defaults            0      0
none                   /dev/shm      tmpfs     defaults            0      0


/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      iso9660 ro,user,noauto,unhide   0       0
/dev/dvd                /mnt/dvd        udf     ro,user,noauto,unhide   0       0
/dev/sda3               /               ext3    defaults                0       1
/dev/sda4               swap            swap    defaults                0       0

my entries in /boot/grub/menu.lst read:

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

neo · 2007-12-15 15:35:27

I get the same error too. need some help!:/

Last edited by neo (2007-12-15 15:35:38)

ezzetabi · 2007-12-15 15:41:49

I installed lilo... I gave up.

orie · 2007-12-15 15:46:52

in the german arch forums i found a solution for the grub-install error. just needed to install "diffutils".
now grub-install runs successfully. but the system still hangs at "GRUB ".

Leigh · 2007-12-15 16:07:06

This probably doesn't have anything to do with your reinstalling grub problem, but I had an issue a while back where I ended up having to add rootfstype= to my grubs menu.lst....

kernel /vmlinuz26 rootfstype=ext3 root=/dev/sdb3 ro vga=773

ebirtaid · 2007-12-15 16:40:29

orie I heard someone talking in the irc channel talking about grub changed the mapping on their box, youcould try pointing it at (hd0,3) and see if that helps, no promises though

pelle.k · 2007-12-15 17:08:01

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=773
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda3 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

You could try commenting out the root entry, and pass it in kernel entry with root=UUID=<insert UUID here> instead.

orie · 2007-12-15 17:11:55

leigh, ebirtaid, tried both but no changes: grub-install without errors, system hangs at "GRUB ".
the strange thing is, that i don't even get the grub prompt.

//edit:

pelle.k: also no changes

Last edited by orie (2007-12-15 17:39:33)

Leigh · 2007-12-16 05:17:57

What bootloader do you use to boot macos? I think because grub is not in the mbr and not on the first partition, and if your using a different bootlaoder for macos, you have to chainload grub to boot into grub from the macos bootloader? Something like that. I never had to do that, so I'm pretty fuzzy about it, but I remember reading about something like that on the grub site.

pelle.k · 2007-12-16 06:29:39

grub-install might not be enough.
if your boot sector is trashed, then boot in to the installation with the arch cd. Then;

grub #this launches the grub shell

root (hd0,2)
setup (hd0,2)
quit

Last edited by pelle.k (2007-12-16 06:31:36)

luciferin · 2007-12-16 08:26:10

I had this same problem but though it was isolated to my install. I'm actually running two Arch boxes but only one of them had a problem... Grub install solved it for me.

orie: As others are suggesting it sounds like you're using grub from the MBR, not /dev/sda3. Is this the case? You'll wants to do:

grub-install /dev/sda

orie · 2007-12-16 12:46:35

Leigh, luciferin: in the mbr i use apple's bootcamp to choose between /dev/sda2 (MacOS) and /dev/sda3 (Arch). then on sda3 i have grub to actually boot into arch. this combination worked fine for me up to now.

pelle.k: just tried that. again it ran successfully but no improvement. when running "root (hd0,2)" grub seems to detect an ext2 filesystem instead of ext3. could this be the problem?

grub> root (hd0,2)
 Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
 
 grub> setup (hd0,2)
  Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
  Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
  Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
  Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,2)"... failed (this is not fatal)
  Running "embed /boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,2)"... failed (this is not fatal)
  Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0,2) /boot/grub/stage2 p /boot/grub/menu.lst "... succeeded
  Done.

pelle.k · 2007-12-16 17:15:34

What happens if you downgrade grub, since everything *seems* ok when you install grub to the bootsector, but clearly it isn't?

Leigh · 2007-12-16 18:48:09

take a look at this thread...
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-541902.html

it looks very similar to your problem, especially the last post.

orie · 2007-12-16 19:58:54

it's working again!

but i have no idea why. did the same thing as before (bootcd -> "grub" -> "root (hd0,2)" -> "setup (hd0,2)") and suddenly grub is working. whish i could tell you more.

Anyway, thank you all for your help!

Last edited by orie (2007-12-16 19:59:38)

Arch Linux

#1 2007-12-15 13:10:36

grub broken since last system update

#2 2007-12-15 14:37:58

Re: grub broken since last system update

#3 2007-12-15 15:11:59

Re: grub broken since last system update

#4 2007-12-15 15:35:27

Re: grub broken since last system update

#5 2007-12-15 15:41:49

Re: grub broken since last system update

#6 2007-12-15 15:46:52

Re: grub broken since last system update

#7 2007-12-15 16:07:06

Re: grub broken since last system update

#8 2007-12-15 16:40:29

Re: grub broken since last system update

#9 2007-12-15 17:08:01

Re: grub broken since last system update

#10 2007-12-15 17:11:55

Re: grub broken since last system update

#11 2007-12-16 05:17:57

Re: grub broken since last system update

#12 2007-12-16 06:29:39

Re: grub broken since last system update

#13 2007-12-16 08:26:10

Re: grub broken since last system update

#14 2007-12-16 12:46:35

Re: grub broken since last system update

#15 2007-12-16 17:15:34

Re: grub broken since last system update

#16 2007-12-16 18:48:09

Re: grub broken since last system update

#17 2007-12-16 19:58:54

Re: grub broken since last system update

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